Exciting but derivative and unpleasant post-apocalyptic thriller

Rating: Null/10 (10 November 2002)

28 DAYS LATER does not, as some seem to believe, herald some kind of rebirth for British cinema. This is in fact the latest entry in a very old and well-trodden genre, and the fact that it is set and made in Britain rather than the US for once doesn't mean its complete lack of originality should be conveniently overlooked. Having said that, it is slickly and stylishly done, and contains enough thrills and spills to keep you reasonably entertained throughout.
It doesn't start well. If there really are high-tech laboratories housing diseases capable of causing the mayhem 'Rage' does, I doubt very much that their security system is so lax that they can be penetrated by a few animal rights activists.
But the scenes of a deserted London are chillingly effective, and when the real action starts, as we first encounter 'the infected', the film's pattern becomes clear. Although we have seen this kind of thing many times before, the one interesting twist Boyle and Garland add to the mix is that unlike Romero's zombies, Star Trek's Borg and so on, the fearless, unrelenting stalkers here don't plod slowly and rather pathetically toward their intended prey, but sprint at top speed. This makes the action sequences considerably more tense and breathless than one might have expected.
Furthermore Boyle's directorial flair is such that even when the story moves out of London the screen is repeatedly filled with dazzling, memorable images. There's some good use - although it might be considered overuse - of music, and most, if not all, of the performances are good, thanks to the casting of solid, reliable types like Christopher Ecclestone and Brendan Gleeson in many of the key roles.
But unfortunately Boyle and Garland don't know where to stop. The unpleasantness and/or stupidity of everyone in the film is as ceaseless as the pursuit of them by the infected. Most of the scrapes Jim and co. get themselves into are entirely of their own doing, and those that aren't turn out to be because the uninfected are basically as nasty as the infected. After a while you begin to think that us Brits are all apparently so moronic or amoral that the rest of the world would probably be better off if we did all get wiped out. The likes of THE OMEGA MAN are generally not exactly a barrel of laughs either, but at least those films made you want humanity to survive.
28 DAYS LATER is worth seeing, just about, and as pure white-knuckle entertainment goes it's probably at least as good as the average star-studded Hollywood blockbuster.
Now if only we could do it with more interesting and original material...